Goji Berry Sparkling Lemonade

this post is sponsored by nuts.com. thank you for supporting the partnerships that allow brewing happiness to grow and exist. xoxo.

I’m continuing this “Summer of Mocktails™” thing with this Goji Berry Sparkling Lemonade. Although it’s not a mocktail per se, it is non alcoholic, and it’s a unique flavor to sip on this summer. So I think that counts enough.

This drink feels like the hip/healthy version of the lemonade you sit on your front porch and sip. If you’ve never had a goji berry, it’s a small red little berry, that you buy dried. They’re packed with fiber, antioxidants, and vitamin C. Basically they’re a superfood that can help improve eye sight, healthy skin, and your immune system. So put them in everything – especially this lemonade.

Goji berries can be expensive to buy, which is why I love Nuts.com, because their 1lb bag is only $14.99. That’s a major steal. So if you’re gonna buy ’em, you gotta buy ’em there. You’ll thank me.

Instructions

Once water is simmering, take off heat, and pour over goji berries. Stir. Once it is safe to do, move to refrigerator for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, add lemon juice and sparkling water to the pitcher. Stir.

Pour over ice.

DRINK UP.

As I’ve been working with a new therapist, I’ve been discovering this hidden glorification of work that I have. Some deep part of me has equated hard work with human value. That put’s an incredible amount of pressure on the work that I do. I mean, if my whole value as a human depends on how hard I work, I better work hard ALL THE FREAKING TIME, right?

I don’t think I’m alone here. Our culture, especially in America, has a go-go-go mentality. When you slow down you’re credited as lazy. Slowing down has a negative connotation, and is also only a privilege of the wealthy. With the advent of social media, there’s added pressure to be (or look) busy at all times. Sadly, I don’t think that pressure is going anywhere.

To cope we have to do something radical… We have to take a break. For 5 minutes, or 5 hours, or 5 days.

Taking a break does not mean laying in your bed and mindlessly watching TV while simultaneously scrolling on your phone. (You know you do that.) It means taking a break from the pattern of our lives. It means putting away technology and doing something radically different. Touch nature –rewild yourself. Read a book. Take a freaking nap. Dance to music. Do anything and everything to literally propel you away from the current work trajectory you are on.

Think of the word “break” in a bone or with a stick it means to snap, to pull apart. In a relationship, it means to separate. You have to do the same with work. Separate yourself. Break apart from the things you are always doing, and do something totally and completely for you.

Because the truth is that your worth and your value aren’t tied to how much work you do or don’t do. Your work is separate from your humanness. Your worth is innate. So be kind, and give yourself a break. xo.